Nine members of the Seneca (Mo.) High School football team appeared in court on Tuesday morning, each pleading not guilty to charges stemming from a reported hazing incident at a Pittsburg State football camp in June.
Eight of the students accused are being charged at this time as juveniles, and one is being charged as an adult, as he was 18 at the time of the incident.
Five misdemeanor and 39 felony charges were filed against 11 players July 14 in Crawford County.
Deputy county attorney Reina Probert said that there is a chance that the prosecution would seek to charge two of the juveniles as adults.
Charges were dismissed against two players earlier this week, Probert said.
“After meeting with the parents and the victims, we felt we would not be able to prove those cases beyond a reasonable doubt,” she said. “We were not confident that the cases against those two should go forward.”
The charges range from one count of misdemeanor battery for one defendant to eight counts of felony aggravated battery and one count of misdemeanor battery for another.
The rest were charged with some combination of between two and seven counts of aggravated battery and a misdemeanor battery charge. The one student currently being charged as an adult is facing six counts of aggravated battery and one count of class D battery.
The charges arise from an incident that occurred at a June football camp at Pitt State, where at least eight freshmen football players were reportedly hazed by upperclassmen.
The reason for the aggravated battery count is that Pittsburg State University Police Department reported that the victims were beaten with plastic rods from window blinds.
On Tuesday, Judge Donald Noland repeatedly pointed out the severity of the charges, noting that each count of felony aggravated battery is a level 7 personal felony, punishable by 11-34 months in prison and a fine of up to $100,000 if charged as an adult. If charged as a juvenile, the potential sentence could include out-of-home placement, time at a juvenile detention center or probation.
The misdemeanor battery count comes with a potential sentence of six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000, if charged as an adult.
Each of the nine defendants in court on Tuesday pleaded not guilty, and most had an attorney present. One was issued a court-appointed lawyer by Noland.
For those charged as juveniles, the next court appearance will be a status conference at 9 a.m. on Oct. 12.
The one student being charged as an adult will be on a different track, with a status conference scheduled at 1 p.m. on Sept. 23 and a preliminary hearing at 2 p.m. on Oct. 25.
